Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the government will announce the wheat price only after consultations with the provinces are complete. Chairing the first meeting of the National Agriculture and Food Security Council in Islamabad, he said the rate should be fixed before the sowing season so farmers are paid for their work and consumers can still afford wheat. He gave no rupee figure.
Sharif said the country has sufficient wheat for domestic requirements. He warned that people who hoard the grain will get no concession. He placed the price decision within a wider promise of federal help for agriculture in the provinces.
Price before sowing, after provincial talks
Sharif said the government wants farmers to receive a fair return and households to get wheat they can afford. "We want farmers to get the right price for wheat and consumers to get affordable wheat," he said. He added that talks with the provinces would be completed before any announcement.
He called agriculture the backbone of the national economy and said the sector could help Pakistan grow in the near term. The federal government, he said, would back the provinces as they develop farming. He listed practical help high among the government's priorities: fertiliser that farmers can afford, quality seed, modern machinery and equipment, and skills for using water more efficiently. Fair prices for crops, especially for small and medium-sized farmers, were part of the same list.
Sharif said livestock could lift exports, and that the government is taking steps to sell more Pakistani halal meat abroad. He praised Punjab's programmes for farmers, including aquaculture, meaning fish farming, shrimp farming and direct subsidies through the Kisan Card. He also commended Sindh's work to support farmers and widen their access to facilities.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar attended with federal ministers Rana Tanveer Hussain, Musadik Malik, Jam Kamal Khan, Ahsan Iqbal and Attaullah Tarar, along with other cabinet members and advisers. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif briefed the council on her government's programmes for farmers. Sindh Food Minister Makhdoom Mahboob-uz-Zaman also outlined steps for growers in his province.
Officials also described farm measures in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Farmers in Multan want a decision now
On Sunday in Multan, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad president Khalid Mehmood Khokhar urged the government to announce a wheat support price immediately so farmers can plan their next crops. A spokesperson said that, at a press conference, he described tough conditions for growers and called for an early policy decision. He said farmers work all year and play a central role in the economy, yet wheat growers are not getting a proper return for their labour and for a high cost of production.
Khokhar said a fair price with a good profit margin would help farmers keep sowing wheat, cut imports and could make exports possible. He said uncertainty over wheat rates had turned farmers toward sugarcane, and that sugarcane cultivation in Punjab had risen by 16 percent to 2.454 million acres. He suggested surplus sugar be exported while prices in the international market are favourable.
He also spoke of expensive fertiliser, high electricity bills and children in rural areas who are out of school. Referring to a World Bank report, he said many people were facing economic difficulty and food insecurity. He said Pakistan faces a 25 percent water shortage, and he urged modern irrigation, more investment in agricultural research, new water storage and a marketing system that tells growers the price well in advance. Khokhar's appeal and Sharif's timetable now frame the wheat price: growers want the figure at once, and the prime minister says it will follow provincial consultations and should come before sowing.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Hakumat ne abhi gandum ki nai qeemat ka elan nahi kiya. Wazir-e-Azam Shehbaz Sharif ne kaha ke soobon se baat ke baad qeemat batayi jayegi, aur ye faisla buwai se pehle hona chahiye. Kisanon ko mehnat ka theek daam chahiye, aur awam ko sasta gandum. Mulk ke paas abhi ghar ki zaroorat jitna gandum hai, magar bhaav ka intezar kisanon ko agli fasal chunne mein mushkil de raha hai.
